Through the Lens of Cultural Awareness: Planning Requirements in Wielding the Instruments of National Power

1. Through the Lens of Cultural Awareness: Planning Requirements in Wielding the Instruments of National Power William Wunderle LTC, Infantry Middle East Foreign Area Officer Middle East Division, Political-Military Affairs, J5 William.wunderle@js.pentagon.mil William.wunderle@us.army.mil

2. Bottom Line Up Front • To an American Soldier, culture can be likened to a minefield - dangerous ground that, if not breached, must be navigated with caution, understanding, and respect. • Cultural interpretation, competence, and adaptation are prerequisites for achieving a win-win relationship in any military operation. • Arabic culture in particular is very complex. Take the time to understand the intricacies of Arabic culture. “There are no true Middle East ‘experts,’ only varying degrees of ignorance”

3. Outline • Why understanding foreign cultures is important • Army cultural doctrine and training • Building cultural competence • Applying cultural competence to military operations • Conclusions

4. The Need for Cultural Understanding Continues to Be Recognized by Our National Leaders • Vietnam • "Our mutual ignorance was mind-boggling…we ascribed to them motives that didn't exist at all and capabilities that didn't exist at all." • Robert S. McNamara • Operation Desert Storm • “On January 9, 1991, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz, and the Secretary of State of the United States, James Baker, met in Geneva to attempt a last-minute compromise that would avoid a war…The Iraqis, however, paid less attention to what Baker said and most attention to how he said it. Hussein’s half-brother reported to Baghdad that ‘the Americans will not attack… They are weak. They are calm. They are not angry. They are only talking…’ Seven days later Operation Desert Storm began.” • H. C. Triandis • Somalia • “… The lesson learned [in Somalia] that kept coming out was that we lacked cultural awareness. We needed cultural intelligence going in.” • Gen Anthony Zinni

5. Who Cares? “I have been driving in Baghdad for the last 4 days. Whoever thought to call this place the Paris of the Middle East should have their head examined. It's filthy - and not just due to war damage. The people are devious and shifty and you cannot trust them asecond; not even the translators…” SFC U.S. Army, Psychological Operations Battalion

6. “… if we had better understood the Iraqi culture and mindset, our war plans would have been even better than they were, [and] the plan for the post-war period and all of its challenges would have been far better…we must improve our cultural awareness…to inform the policy process. Our policies would benefit from this not only in Iraq, but…elsewhere, where we will have long-term strategic relationships and potential military challenges for many years to come.” Ike Skelton, in a letter to Donald Rumsfeld, October 23, 2003

7. “Those who can win a war well can rarely make good peace, and those who could make good peace would have never won the war.” Winston Churchill

8. Outline • Why understanding foreign cultures is important • Army cultural doctrine and training • Building cultural competence • Applying cultural competence to military operations • Conclusions

9. Don’t shake a female’s hand unless she offers it first Don’t move away if an Arab “invades your space” Don’t behave arrogantly or lose your temper Don’t touch women or engage them socially Don’t pat a person on the head Don’t blatantly show the bottoms of your feet Don't bring a big entourage into a persons house Don’t use big hand gestures / finger movements Don’t use the left hand to eat or offer food Don’t ask personal questions about female family Don’t slouch when sitting Don’t use the “OK” hand gesture Don’t try to convert someone to your religion Typical Cultural Briefs Are Simplistic

10. Currently, U.S. Joint and Service doctrine does not stress the consideration of any type of cultural awareness and competence factors during the deliberate planning process. When cultural factors are addressed in doctrine, it is usually in reference to working together with coalition partners and not specifically how cultural factors could affect enemy reaction and impacts on our selected COA. What Can We Do About This?You Won’t Find Answers In Doctrine

11. What We Really Need to Know… • What is the enemy thinking and why? • What are my friends thinking and why? • What will they do if I take action X and why? • How are cultural issues impacting my operations? • How can I make them do what I want them to do?

12. Outline • Why understanding foreign cultures is important • Army cultural doctrine and training • Building cultural competence • What is culture? • What is cultural competence? • Applying cultural competence to military operations • Conclusions

13. What Do We Mean By Culture? • Culture is a shared set of traditions, belief systems, and behaviors. Culture is shaped by history, religion, ethnic identity, language and nationality, and evolves in response to various pressures and influences, and is learned through socialization…it is not inherent. “Culture is the ‘human terrain’ of warfare. Human terrain is key terrain.” MG(Ret) Jeff Lambert

14. The What Cultural Manifestations • Wasta • Planning • Nepotism • Authority • Suspicion • Delegation • Bargaining • Sycophancy • Consultation • Compromise • Participation • Risk Avoidance • Time to Decision • Fatalism • Negotiation Styles • Etc… Cultural Variations • Behaviors • Context Sensitivity • Values • Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance • Time Orientation • Individualism • Relationship vs. Deal Focus • Formality • Cognition • Reasoning Styles The Why Cultural Influences • Foreign Heritage • Islam and the Islamic View of War • Tribal Traditions • Language A Taxonomy Of Culture Adapted from Solberg, Carl Arthur, Culture and Industrial Buyer Behavior: The Arab Experience, Dijon, France, September 2002.

15. Cultural Influences • Influences on Arabic Culture • Foreign Heritage • Islam, and Islamic Views of War • Tribal Traditions • Language

16. Views of Religion • The West: The basic unit of human organization is the nation. • In American usage, this is virtually synonymous with country. • This is then subdivided in various ways, one of which is by religion. • Muslims: Tend to see not a nation subdivided into religious groups, but a religion subdivided into nations. "Islam is not so much a religion as a form of life, not so much a theological system as a pattern for personal and social conduct based on an active consciousness of God."

17. Role of Religion • Islam: • A system of religious beliefs and a way of life • Based on the Qu’ran, Hadith, and Sunna • Five Pillars form basis of Muslim duties • No distinctions between church and state • Sunnis (“orthodox”) and Shi’as (adherents of Ali) • Iraq: • 97% Muslim (60-65% Shi’a, 32-37% Sunni) • Shiites are generally poorer and live in south-central Iraq • Most Iraqis are more religious than Westerners • Jews and Christians are “people of the book”

18. Views of Warfare… Traditional… ”لا تحقرن صغيراً في رثاثته، فلربما البعوضة تدمي مقلة الأسد.“ “Don’t despise those who are unfortunate in threadbare clothes, for even a mosquito can make a lion’s eye bleed.” AL Motanabi, famous Arab Poet

19. …And Islamic فإذا لقيتم الذين كفروا فضرب الرقاب حيى إذا أثخنتمو هم فشدوا الوثاق فإما منا بعد وإما فداء حتى تضع الرحب أوزارها “So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make prisoners, and afterwards either set them free as a favor or let them ransom themselves until the war terminates” Qur’an 47:4

20. Leadership Sets • Determine leaders vs. decision-makers • Three sets of leaders: • Tribal: Sheikhs • Religious: Clerics • Civil/Administrative: Mayors, Police Chiefs, etc. • Sources of power and extent of authority will vary from group to group and from situation to situation.

21. Abu Tribe Saeed Sub-Tribe Clan Hamad Branch Khazzal Family Tribal System أنا و أخي على ابن عمي و أنا و ابن عمي على الغريب“” • Complex tribal organization forms key social network. • Kinship ties are the link. • There are sub tribes, clans, branches, and families within tribes. • Tribal leader referred to as Sheik. • Sheiks can be influential and powerful, but not always. • A Sheik can have family members (and therefore influence) spread over large geographic areas.

22. Name Structure Main Tribe Name AL – MAQTARI Great Grandfather's Name ABDO Grandfather’s Name ALI Power Father’s Name QASIM HASSAN First Name MANAR MOHAMMAD BASSAM HASSAN RAZAN

23. Religious Versus Tribal and Civil Structures Tribal Structure Civil Structure President Governor (Head of a Governorate) Sheik of Sheiks (Head of Major Tribe) Mayor (Head of A District) Sheikh (Head of Sub-Tribe) Township Director (Head of a Small Town) Head of Clan

24. Language • Arabic is spoken in more than 21 countries and throughout the Arabian Peninsula. • It is the first language of over 208 million people, and at least another 35 million speak it as a second language. • Arabic is the language of Islam. It is the liturgical language of about one billion Muslims throughout the world. • Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the official language throughout the Arab world and, in its written form, is relatively consistent across national boundaries.

25. Cultural Variations

26. Behaviors • Languages, Customs, Dress, Religion. • Languages, Customs, Dress, Religion: The normal definition for these. • Language Styles -Context Sensitivity: Cultures that emphasize the surrounding circumstances (or context) make extensive use of body language and take the time to build relationships and establish trust. • Personal Space: The region around an individual, within which it is considered taboo (to varying degrees) for another individual to enter that space.

27. High Context: Meaning Implicit Languages Japanese Arabs Latin Americans Italians Surrounding Information Necessary for Understanding Surrounding Information Necessary for Understanding British French North Americans Scandinavians Germans Swiss Low Context: Meaning Explicit in Language Context Sensitivity

28. Nonverbal Communications and Personal Space • In order to adequately communicate with someone from an Arab country and avoid any miscommunication, misperception or misinterpretation, we must be able to “read” what is not being said…through nonverbal communications. • Nonverbal communications, communicating without words, is done through the use of Kinesics, Proxemics, and Touch.

29. Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Long-term Orientation Time Orientation Individualism Relationship/Deal Focus Formality Data Events Insight Cues Values

30. Power Distance • Power distance can be defined as “the extent to which the less powerful members of society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.” • In high power distance countries, the people are more concerned with status. Subordinates are perceived as afraid and they usually have to agree with their superiors’ decisions. • In low power distance countries, employees prefer a “consultative” manager and managers take subordinates’ suggestions into consideration when they make a decision,

31. Uncertainty Avoidance • Uncertainty avoidance deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. • Arabs tend to feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity, thus try to avoid these situations. • This is closely related to the dual concepts of “honor” and “saving face.” • Simply stated, saving face means that neither party in a given interaction should suffer embarrassment. This concept often makes it difficult for an Arab to say “no” to a request because it would be impolite. They are reluctant to offend others - even if they intentionally mislead them instead. Thus, a “yes” to an Arab might mean, “Yes, I understand you” rather than “Yes, I agree.” • Because of this, it is essential to be able to read between the lines because what is left unsaid or unwritten may be just as important as what is said or written.

32. Long-Term Orientation • Long-term Orientation is defined as the fostering of virtues oriented toward future rewards - in particular, perseverance and thrift. • Short-Term Orientation fosters virtues related to the past and present - in particular, respect for tradition, preservation of "face", and fulfilling social obligations.

33. Time Orientation • Americans are very time-conscious and very precise about appointments, while Arab cultures tend to be more casual about time. • For example, if your Arab host tells you that he will meet with you at 1500 hours, he most likely means “‏إن شاء الله”‏- inshallah (Arabic for “If God wills, as God pleases”). • Middle Eastern cultures tend to favor long negotiations and slow deliberations. • They exchange pleasantries at some length before getting down to business. • Arabs use silent intervals for contemplation, whereas Americans seem to have little tolerance for silence during negotiations.

34. Individualism vs. Collectivism • American culture is a typical example of individualism. • Once the kids grow up, they are expected to leave the parents and live on their own. • They typically do not assume the responsibility of taking care of their parents. • In collective societies, everyone belongs to a certain group. • This group protects its “members” and expects their loyalty in return. • In individualistic cultures, individuals are more task-oriented as compared to collectivism cultures.

35. لا يسلم الشرف الرفيع من الأذى حتى يراق على جوانبه الدم Honor cannot be returned from harm until blood is spilled from its sides.

36. Relationship vs. Deal Focus • Relationship-focused people prefer to do business with friends, families, and persons well known to them. • They always want to know their business partners very well before talking business with them. • The business relationship is based on trust, and networking is very essential for doing business in these countries. • Deal-focused cultures are relatively open to do business with strangers. To them, business has nothing to do with their private life.

37. Formality • Compared to traditional American culture, Arabs value and respect a much more formal approach to business dealings and negotiations. • Call your counterparts by their titles and family names unless specifically asked to do otherwise. • Most of the Arab world can be categorized as a formal business culture. • Respect is very important in a formal business culture. How you address a person is one of the important ways to show your respect.

38. Cognition • Dialectical Reasoning: Whether options are delineated to show their differences, or whether those options are merged to maintain possibly contradictory perspectives. • Hypothetical Reasoning: Whether the individual uses hypothetical (imagined) circumstances to show implications of actions, or grounding analysis in context and experience. • Counterfactual Reasoning: Whether the individual uses counterfactual (untrue, explicitly opposite what is known to be true) circumstances to show implications of actions. • Perception: The tendency for people to perceive objects in a scene as relating to other objects in that scene. • Attribution: How people of different cultures attribute causality across cultures.

39. Wasta Planning Nepotism Authority Suspicion Delegation Bargaining Sycophancy Consultation Compromise Participation Fatalism Risk Avoidance Time to Decision Privileged Relations Negotiation Styles Etc… Cultural Manifestations

40. Negotiation Styles…U.S. Negotiators Global Report Card Competency Grade • Preparation B- • Synergistic approach (win-win) D • Cultural I.Q. D • Adapting the negotiating process to the host country environment D • Patience D • Listening D • Linguistic abilities F • Using language that is simplistic and accessible C • High aspirations B+ • Personal integrityA- • Building solid relationships D Adapted from Acuff, F.L., How to Negotiate with Anyone, Anywhere Around the World, New York: AMACOM, 1993.

41. Cultural Competence Is Needed Across All Levels of War

42. Outline • Why understanding foreign cultures is important • Army cultural doctrine and training • Building cultural competence • What is culture? • Achieving cultural competence? • Applying cultural competence to military operations • Conclusions

43. Achieving Cultural Competence “Cultural and religious ignorance of allies and enemies negatively impact coalition coherence, mask enemy and expose friendly centers of gravity, delay or deter operational success, and influence conflict termination…” Calvin F. Swain Jr.

44. No Cultural Training Exuberance / Idealism / Mirror Imaging Cultural Understanding Disappointment/ Confusion Expectations Coping/ Learning Cultural Awareness Frustration/ Anger Mission Failure? Deploy Half-Way Re-deploy Awareness / Understanding Cultural Awareness and Expectation Management Expectation Management • Steep learning curve = mistakes • Frustration destroys relationships • Training achieves Awareness

45. “An army of strangers in the midst of strangers.” LTG David Petraeus Commander, Multinational Security Transition Command

46. Lines Of Operation Based on Situational Understanding Security U n e m p l o y m e n t We Recognized The Challenges……But Did We See Them As Cultural? Localized Regime Resistance Arms Caches Rule of Law Crime Tribal and Cultural Influences Governance and Administration Infrastructure Recovery External Fighters Arab Street Perception Humanitarian Relief and Assistance Iraq’s Security Environment – “A Cultural Fog of War.”

47. Evaluating Intelligence Support FM 2-0 INTELLIGENCE – STATES “INTELLIGENCE PRODUCTS MUST BE TIMELY, RELEVANT, ACCURATE, AND PREDICTIVE.” • Timeliness – Was the reporting and dissemination of the intelligence timely enough to support proactive info operations and allow quicker decisions than the adversary? • Relevant – Was the intelligence collected and disseminated to support IO pertinent and applicable to the commander’s CCIR and IO mission planning? • Accuracy/ Sufficient Detail – Was the intelligence output accurate and with a sufficient level of fidelity to support IO planning at multiple levels of command? • Predictive – Did the intelligence support to IO enable the commander and his staff to anticipate key enemy events or reactions and develop corresponding counteractions? INCREASING COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY

48. Situational Awareness…But Of The Wrong Enemy • “I knew where every enemy tank was dug in on the outskirts of [the city]…The only problem was, my soldiers had to fight fanatics charging on foot or in pick-ups and firing AK-47s and RPGs. I had perfect situational awareness. What I lacked was cultural awareness. Great technical intelligence…Wrong enemy.” Brigade Commander 3rd Infantry Division Enroute to Baghdad • “Intelligence Products Must Be Timely, Relevant, Accurate, And Predictive.”

49. Evaluating Intelligence Support To IO During OIF MCO SASO WHY UNIVERSAL TASK LIST OF INTEL SUPPORT TO INFO OPNS

50. WHY WAS INTELLIGENCE EFFECTIVE ON THESE TASKS, BUT NOT OTHERS? WHY DID INTELLIGENCE STRUGGLE TO PERFORM THESE TASKS? WHY DID EFFECTIVENESS DECREASE ACROSS THE BOARD DURING PHASE 4? The Information Gap